From John S. Calkins, Los Angeles, Cal.: 
I consider the Sharpless and Monarch of 
the West Strawberries, > nd the Mammoth , 
Cluster and Cuthbert Raspberries the best I 
varieties for this locality, both for home use 
and market. 
From T. A. Peffer, South Bend, Ind.: 
For both home use and market, Tyler and 
Gregg are the best black raspberries, and for 
the same purposes Turner and Superb are the 1 
best red. The best for market are the Crim¬ 
son Beauty and Cuthbert. I think the Marl¬ 
boro will be the best market berry when fully ; 
tested. 
As strawberries for home use, I would uame 
Sharpless and Mt. Vernon; for market, when 
well fertilized with Sharpless or Bidwell, I 
would name the Crescent for early and the 
Manchester for late. 
|Every uuery must Be accompanied by the name 
amt address of the writer to Insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see If It Is not answered lu 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions 
at one tinted 
REDUCING BONE TO A FERTILIZER. 
A B. C, Penn Van, N. Y .—The authorities 
say that burning drives the nitrogen out of 
boms; what is the effect of boiling upon 
their value? I have an opportunity to buy a 
lot of boiled bones; what is the best way to 
put them in a convenient shape to use? I do 
not care to reduce them to a very flue form, 
as they are intended for the permanent im¬ 
provement of a vineyard. With that end in 
view, would it not be enough to break up the 
bones into pieces the size of large beam? 
Ans.—R aw bones contain some SO per cent 
(one-half weight) of phosphate of lime,also ani¬ 
mal organic tissue yielding, in 100 pounds of 
bone, from three to three and-one half pounds 
of nitrogen. The phosphate of lime and the 
nitrogen contained in the organic matter, 
constitute the agricultural value of bone, ex¬ 
cepting perhaps the small quantities of mag¬ 
nesia, soda, etc, present. The fat which is 
always present in raw bones, possesses no 
agricultural value whatever. On the con¬ 
trary, its presence is harmful, as it tends to 
retard the decomposition of the bone. Until 
the hone is decomposed, it is inert and useless 
as plant food. With the above facts in view, 
our correspondent needs but little help to 
auswer his own questions. Does burning 
bones drive out the nitrogen >. Yes; but in the 
burning off of the organic matter (which 
contains the nitrogen) the proportion of phos¬ 
phate of lime is Increased, so that in thoroughly 
charred bones (boue-black) we Hnd some 
70 per cent of phosphate of lime, iustead 
of 50 percent present in raw bones. Charred 
bones have very little value unless dissolved 
by sulphuric or some other acid, and for the 
reason that the carbon present prevents their 
decomposition in the seiL Experiments have 
shown that the sharp edges of bone black 
pieces have not beeu worn off after the boue 
had been buried in the soil for a year or more. 
The boiling, if done in a moderate way audiu 
open kettles (uot iu tuuks under steam pres¬ 
sure) only removes the fat and does no 
iujury to the agricultural value of the bone. 
Butin makiug glue from bone, theuifcrogt-n is 
removed in the glue water, and the Ixmes are 
injured for the farmer. Tl.ey then require 
the addition of nitrogen iu some form—say, 
iu blood or flesh—“Peter Cooper's Bone” is a 
sample of tills kind. If the farmer is looking 
out for phosphate of lime, and not for nitrogen, 
then such bone as last described is exoellent,and 
hus the advantage, over bouts which have been 
very moderately boiled, of yielding more 
readily by grinding. It is a very difficult 
matter for a farmer to reduce boiled bones by 
grinding, or breaking with a sledge hammer. 
Do bones need to be ground very flue for 
permaueut effect? No; but they do need tine 
grinding or reduction by some means to be 
profitably effective at once or for several 
years. The coarser the pieces arc, the longer 
they will last, for the simple reason that the 
rootlets of the plants cannot consume them. 
To use the coarse bone is poor economy. It is 
like putting out money at eompouud interest 
and paying the interest yourself. 
If our friend fiuds the boues have uot been 
boiled enough to jield readily to any means 
of breaking, which he hus at hand, then the 
only way of reducing them is to make alter¬ 
nate layers, a tew inches thick, of bone and un¬ 
leached wood ashes iu a cask, aud keep the 
mass moist for several weeks. The potash 
leached from the wood ashes will gradually 
break down the boue. To dissolve coarsely 
ground or even tine_boue_in'sulphu> ic‘ tt A > id/ J 
SyPPLlilEMT TO THE RURAL MEW-YORKER 
a difficult task, and few farmers care to repeat j 
the operation. The action of acid on the 
bone is very slow, and in the meantime is 
likely to eat up the cask. In treating ground 
bone for market, it is necessary to have the 
bone very fine, and the pile after treatment 
with acid must remain for several months be¬ 
fore it is fit for use. Besides this, it requires, 
for successful treatment, that each portion of 
the bone should be brought in contact with 
the proper proportion of acid, carefully 
avoiding any excess. 
SELECTION OF GRAPES. 
E. T. H., Syracuse, N. F.—I have about 
700 grape-viues, about 400 of them (mostly 
Isabellas *25 years old), which I wish to replace 
with some earlier kinds. I have about 100 
each nf Concords and Delawares, and did 
think of using these mostly (two Concords to 
one Delaware) until I saw your Editorial in 
the issue of January 3d, I have young vines 
of Worden. Wilder, Moore’s, Eumelan, Aga¬ 
wam, Salem, Bindley, Brighton, Pocklington, 
Prentiss, Lady, Martha, and am to have a 
Niagara in March, and if I should add to 
these the Wyoming Red, the Massasoit and 
Meiimaek, and if I want two binds of each, 
black, red and white, which of these would 
you advise, or is there some better black than 
either? 
ANSWERED BY E. WILLIAMS. 
If l had a lot of old vines not so exhausted 
as to be absolutely worthless, and desired to 
continue grapes on the same ground, I think 
I would try to change them by grafting; but 
in many, I may say most, cases of this kind, 
that have come under my observation, the 
vines have been so enfeebled by disease or im¬ 
poverishment that the best and cheapest plan 
would be to root them out and plant young, 
healthy vines on newer land. In the above 
E. T. H.’s own judgment ought to be his 
guide. The Concords and Delawares are both 
earlier than the Isabellas, and the Delaware 
is one of our best and highest-priced market 
grapes. Whether it would be wisdom on his 
part to plant it depends altogether on the 
adaptability of his soil to grow it successfully, 
and this question,' like many other?, he must 
auswer for himself by actual trial. The few 
who plant it succeed; the many fail. It must 
be 20 years or thereabouts since ray first 
plantiug, and I now have but a siugle vine 
that appears to have found a congenial spot 
and gives me encouragement to hope for suc¬ 
cess. Of those mentioned Moore’s Early, 
Worden, Brighton. Lady and Massasoit are 1 
earlier than the Concord, and all, except the 
first, are generally considered of better J 
quality. The Massasoit would be for me a 
very desirable, early, red variety to grow, if 
I could secure uniformly good, perfect clus¬ 
ters. The Eumelan. qualify considered, is 
one of the best, but here comes in the question 
of adaptability, aud a study of our public ex¬ 
hibitions shows how few of the exhibitors 
succeed with it. These exhibitions afford a 
very fair index of the value aud success of 
any variety. Study them. The Wilder with 
me is one of the best, if not the best black of 
Rogers's Hybrids, and has given me far better 
satisfaction than the Merimack. My choice of 
two of each color from the above list would 
be as follows: 1 
W7i itc. Red. Black. 
For eurll (Lady. Brighton. Moore’s Early, 
ness. 1 5tartha. Massasoit. Worden. 
For profit und 
general satis¬ 
faction. 
Niagara. Brighton. Worden. 
- PocK- 
jltngton. Wilder. 
For quality irre-) 
spec live of sue Prentiss. Brighton. Eumelan. 
ees m other re- Niagara. Ltudley. Wilder, 
spects. 
For second red one (or profit, you will see I 
have made uo choice, simply from the reason 
that I have uot yet found any to succeed well 
enough witti me to justify a preference for 
any one for that purpose. 1 have uot tried 
the Wyoming Red; it might fill the place (or 
profit, but the satisfaction in other respects is 
lackiug. If I could manage to get good clus¬ 
ters of Agawato, Massasoit or Lindley it 
would not be difficult to fill the blank. Now, 
of what beuefit is this experience to E. T. II. ? 
My next neighbor’s experience may be such 
as to disagree with the above choice; but if a 
1 whole community agreed with me iu the 
j niaiu, E. T. II’s soil, situation and climate, 
may be so different as to render the course 
j suggested by my experience a very unsatis¬ 
factory one to adopt. The very best possible 
advieo of this kind may be very unsafe to 
follow, owiug to want of adaptation, and 
the experience of others is of value ouly by 
reasou of its adaptability, aud as a hint point¬ 
ing in certain directions, and he who will 
reasou and deduce from it the conclusions 
best adapted to bis surroundings will be the 
most benefited by the study. One man’s 
opinion of a fruit may be, and often is, based 
on its commercial value alone—on the money 
he can get out of it in the market; another’s, 
on the same basis, might be very different 
solely owing to a different market. Yet 
neither would be a safe guide to one whose 
estimate of value was^hased. on high 'flavor 
and exquisite quality; hence, the importance 
of looking well to the reasons for which any 
variety is desired. The person who grows 
fruit for his own table use, will first consult 
his own palate for quality, and then the 
adaptation of his soil to the variety, not car¬ 
ing a fig for the market; while the profes¬ 
sional market fruit grower, who can see no 
merit in a fruit save the money it will bring, 
w’ho wants quantity rather than quality, will 
give little heed to the opinions of the discrim¬ 
inating amateur. 
ADVICE IN STARTING A CHICKEN FARM. 
L. E. B., MonticeUo , III .—I am going to 
raise chickens next Summer for a business or 
occupation. Now, I would like to have some 
advice as to the choosing of breeds and the 
management and feed of chickens. What is 
the best breed to raise to sell for a table 
chicken, i. e. a good chicken for cooking pur¬ 
poses, aud one that will grow and mature very 
fast? 
ANSWERED BY HENRY HALES. 
The best fowls to raise for the table on a 
large scale or fur the market, are birds that 
have a cross of Asiatic blood. Dorkings are 
decidedly the best for family use, and where 
care can be given to dressing them neatly, as 
is done for the English market, where they 
are picked dry and very carefully. In other 
words, their thin, delicate, white skins are 
easily torn, and by toughening these, a cross 
with Light Brahma, Langshan or Wyandotte 
will make very fine birds, coming in much 
quicker than an v pure-bred birds. The cock 
should be colored or Silver Gray Dorking; the 
hens of one or the other of the breeds men¬ 
tioned above. These make splendid table birds 
that mature quickly. Early spring chickens 
you should sell iu your neighborhood; I would 
not recommend sending small spiring chickens 
far to market. The Wyandottes are decidedly 
the latest improvement. They are plump even 
when small, or at any age. For high-priced 
breeds, they can be bought cheap when “off 
feather,” and these are just as good for your 
purpose. Pure-bred birds do not mature as 
quickly as crosses. Although the Wyaadotte 
i3 called now a pure breed, it is simply across 
between a Hamburg aud Asiatic, and there¬ 
fore has all the advantages of a cross in itself. 
The only advantages gained by crossing it 
with the Dorking are a larger breast, a finer 
grain aud more delicately flavored flesh for 
full grown fowls: but for broilers, pure Wy- 
audottes are the birds. The largest, finest 
cross I ever saw Cor the table were Dorkings 
crossed with Laugshaus. These make strong, 
hardy, fine adult birds. Plymouth Rocks have 
been considered good birds, but in those par¬ 
ticulars wliere the Plymouth Rocks excelled, 
the Wyandottes are far ahead. All these 
fowls are good si tears aud mothers. In regard 
to houses, if you have to build them, do not 
build any houses to hold more than 75 to 100 
birds at most; fifty is a better number. Have 
plenty of ventilation near the top of the 
houses. Have no sky-lights, but glass win¬ 
dows on the south and east sides near the 
ground. Should you want to extend business, 
build another house for another flock at a dis¬ 
tance of at least a hundred feet from the first, 
and so on. A house to a plot of half au acre 
to one acre is best. If fenced off, they can be 
a little closer. Set your hens in quiet places, 
aud as they hatch, remove the chicks and 
mothers as far as convenient from the other 
fowl?, aud coop the hens. A feed of ground 
oats and corn made into a stiff dough, is good, 
to be at times changed for wheat middlings 
and oatmeal. As soou as the chicks are able 
to eat it, wheat is the grain to feed 
them till they are able to swallow 
whole corn, which should then be 
given once a day; but always continue the 
ground feed in the mornings. This will give 
you early chickens. Of course, they want 
grass runs, and a little chopped onions and 
lettuce will be of service at auv time. 1 have 
always found the most troublesome time to 
attend to chickens is at the time the hens leave 
them. They will then often crowd, from a 
number of coops into one, when they miss their 
mothers, getting on top of each other, causing 
a great heat and often sickness, if not separ¬ 
ated. To remedy this, 1 put up light, uarrow 
sheds with low perches near where the coops 
staud; move the little tbiugs by degrees to 
these, aud at lust drive them iu before they 
take to any more dangerous roostiug place. 
Although this is some trouble, yet if chickens 
are wanted in quantity, it piays to give this 
care. _____ 
VALUE OF CORN MEAL AS A FERTILIZER. 
J. I. C., Marietta, Oa. —1. What is the value 
of the manure made from a tou of corn meal, 
raw bone at $45 per tou being the basis of 
the estimate. 2. What are its valuable parts, 
aud in what proportion are they found? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. S. W. JOHNSON. 
These questions may be discussed, but they 
cannot be very satisfactorily auswered. In 
the_ first place, manure cannot be profitably 
made from a ton of corn meal alone, except 
by putting it directly into the ground. I sup¬ 
pose, however, tnat by “manure’’ this cor¬ 
respondent intends to mean dung aod urine, 
with or without litter, in the shape of stable 
manure. Now the feeding stuffs that go with 
corn meal largely influence the quality and 
quantity of the dung and uriue. This influ¬ 
ence is varied in a complicated manner by 
the proportions in which the feeding stuffs 
are fed. Again, the kind, age and condition 
of the animals strikingly affect the value of 
the manure they produce. In case of full- 
grown animals, at rest or at work, but neither 
gaining nor losing flesh. the food losesnothing 
of manurial value in passing the animal, and 
a ton of corn meal fed to such animals is 
worth as manure just what it would be if used 
as a fertilizer in direct application to crops, 
so far as the kinds and quantities of fertiliz¬ 
ing elements are concerned. These elements 
may be somewhat more concentrated and 
more assimilable in the manure than in the 
meal, but the differences are not great. 
In case of young animals which are growing, 
as well as of mature animals which are fat¬ 
tening, giving milk or nourishing offspring, 
born or unborn, affairs are c.ifferent. Such 
animals retain certain fertilizing elements of 
their food or divert them from the excrement 
and by so much diminish its manurial value. 
Of the elements prevented from reaching the 
dung heap, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and 
lime, are the most abundant and important. 
The amounts of these elements that thus fail 
to become manure are those which are stored 
in the animal as bone and muscle or other 
albuminoid tissue, or secreted as the caseine 
and phosphates of milk. 
In case the animals pass over all the fertiliz¬ 
ing elements to the dung heap, we see by the 
following statement of the amounts of these 
elements contained in bone and corn meal 
respectively, that a strict comparison of 
values is only possible by reference to a money 
basis: 
One ton of corn meal contains about 30 
pounds of nitrogen; 7 pounds of potash. 1 of 
lime, and 11 of phosphoric acid. Raw bone, 
best quality, coutains, per ton, about SO 
pounds nitrogen; 2 pounds potash; 020 pounds 
of lime, and 450 pounds of phosphoric acid. 
The commercial values of these ingredients, 
neglecting lime, are about 10 cents per pound 
for nitrogen, and five cents per pound for 
phosphoric acid in bone: and IS cents per 
pound for nitrogen, and six cents for phos¬ 
phoric acid in corn meal. Potash is worth 
about 4j^ cents per pound. At taese 
rates, one ton of raw bone is worth #35.86, and 
one ton of corn meal as fertilizer is worth 
$5 30, or if raw bone is reck, ned worth #45 00 
per ton, corn meal would be worth #7.97, say 
#8 00 per ton 
BEST FERTILIZERS FOR STRAWBERRIES. 
E. G. B , Dimock, Pa. —How does land 
plaster affect sti a wherries; how does it affect 
the vines and the fruit; is it better to apply it 
alone, or mixed with ashes, phosphate, etc. ? 
AnS.—L and plaster has never shown auv 
good results with us when used on strawber¬ 
ries. Good, unleached wood ashe3 and phos¬ 
phate, or fine ground boue, are the best straw¬ 
berry manures we know of, and we have test¬ 
ed abont everything. One to two thousand 
pounds of bone, or phosphate, and 50 or 100 
bushels of ashes to the acre, would have an 
excellent effect, the amount depending some¬ 
what on the natural fertility of the soil; but 
more particularly upon the quantity of ber¬ 
ries that are wanted. These can be bought 
here for half the outlay for enough stable man¬ 
ure to produce the same results. Super phos¬ 
phate will start plant growth a little more 
quickly, but is not as cheap and reliable as good, 
pure, ground bone, which is more slow in be¬ 
coming available as plant food; but its good 
effects always show themselves the next sea¬ 
son at fruiting time. 
WHITE AND YELLOW CORN AS FEED. 
C, N. C. L., Davenport, la. —1. What are 
the relative feeding values of pure white, and 
pure yellow corn for fattening purposes, as 
ascertained by analysis? 2. Which of the two 
kinds is most relished by live stock? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. S. W. JOHNSON. 
I. I know of no special comparison of white 
and yellow maize, but presume they are, on 
the whole, so nearly identical in composition 
as to have practically the same feeding value 
when ripe and clean. Flint and dent corns are 
shown by many analyses to be scarcely differ¬ 
ent. Sweet corn is richer than common com 
in fat and albuminoids,and “Western corn,” in 
bulk, is considerably inferior to sound, ripe, 
clean corn, because of greater moisture and 
perhaps because it is less clean and sound. 2. 
I am uot aware that, animals ever exhibit any 
preference for one kind over the other. 
HOG qU ERIKS. 
J. S., KiPiy, Oregon. —1. What is the best 
apparatus for cooking hog feed? 2. What 
breed of hogs will mature the quickest, and 
make the largest amount of meat for the food 
